Fish Tails & Mermaid Scales
by heartpunker123
Summary: Serena is a mermaid and Princess of Thalassa Kingdom deep within the Atlantic Ocean. Her father, King Nereus carries through tradition and forces his daughter to marry a neighboring prince without her consent. Serena escapes on the night of her wedding and is washed away to the surface world where she meets two human boys, Dan and Phil.
1. Washed Up

**Hi! So, I told myself I wouldn't write a Dan and Phil fanfic...but here it is:)**

 **Hope you enjoy the first chapter!**

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The strong currents of the deep blue ocean pushed through the rough waters as I continued to pump my tail in order to accelerate further as far as my fins could carry me.

"Don't let the Princess escape! We must bring her back to the kingdom for the sake of the king!" The distant voices of the Royal guards yelled out from behind as they chased after me. I closed my eyes and swam further into the vast ocean knowing I couldn't let them catch me for I refuse to carry on with tradition and be wed to some merman prince without my consent.

In my kingdom, royal families must be forced into arranged marriages with neighboring royal merfolk by the King's choice, in this case my father who is the Ruler of the Atlantic sea and King of Thalassa Kingdom, King Nereus. It was he, who forced upon this tradition to give my hand and be wedded to Prince Calder once I had turned the rightful age of twenty three. In response, I was purely against it for how could I go through an important part of my life marrying someone who I do not love and will never love for the sake of tradition? I will never learn to understand the concept. As a result, I had broken the sacred rule of tradition and escaped from the royal marital ceremony held within my father's kingdom and swam away from my ill-faded fate in order to live a life in my control and possibly find the one person I can truly fall in love with. Even if the love I find is a human living on the surface world.

I opened my eyes once again, turning my attention to look behind my shoulder where the guards were gaining an advantage as they were closing in by changing their mermen appearances into one of the top apex predators of the sea, sharks and leading ahead of them is the King's Royal commander, Tiburon in the form of a Great White. This shapeshifting magic is common with our kind and it is a choice whether to use it or not as this is how we disguise ourselves from the humans who enter our world. The Royal guards were easily gaining the upper fin as my strength began to falter. I needed to reach the surface world it was the only way to lose them.

"Princess, give up! You won't be to out swim us and escape! Surrender now!" The Tiburon yelled out as I could feel them closing in but I wasn't going to give up.

"No! Leave me alone!" I brought out my left hand from behind producing a wave of deep sea currents aimed at them in order to distract them but they dodged it in time proving ineffective.

"Don't use your powers against us, we don't want to hurt you, please understand!" The commander spoke out again as they continued to pursue me while I felt the last of my strength dwindling down. I closed my eyes once more hoping to use the last of my energy to out swim them and be freed from the sea as a familiar cry echoed in my ears.

"Fritz!" My voice spoke out in excitement and also relief as I turned my head again and caught the sight of my loyal companion in the entire sea, a bull Orca tread through the guards disrupting their formation as he bolted towards me and instantly I encircled my arms around his tall dorsal fin.

The currents of the ranging ocean flowed through my long wavy brown hair and violet hue tail as the guards were out matched by the speed of the Killer Whale and Fritz and I escaped with their images fading from my sight.

"Thank you so much for saving me, Fritz. If it wasn't for you, I would have been caught by now and forced into marrying Prince Calder." I spoke to him as I rested my fatigue body on his back while he communicated with me through dolphin dialect.

"I had to help you, Serena. You deserve to be happy in your life even it means for you to live on the surface world." Fritz let out as I smiled at him feeling happy to have a friend like him and I promised I'll see him again one day. All of a sudden, the deep ocean currents had grown stronger and unruly caused by the heavy storm raging above the shore. "Hang on, Serena!" Fritz shouted for me to listen as I tried to do what he asked but I wasn't strong enough and suddenly felt myself being swept away from my best friend. "Serena!" I heard him calling out to me as he desperately tried to swim after me but the currents were too strong and slowly slipped into unconsciousness while being pulled through the sea.

 **End P.O.V**

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The violent storm subsided throughout that night as the next morning, the ocean was calm once again as the waves gently lapped over sandy shores before retreating back to the sea and the sun radiating through the warm England coast. Summer weather took place once again as British internet personalities and best friends, Phil Lester and Dan Howell were enjoying their visit here in Brighton, East Sussex about an hour away from their flat in London.

Both men were on the beach to soak up the last minutes of nice weather before their upcoming schedules planning out their summer which included their radio show on BBC, Youtube conventions _Vidcon_ , _Playlist Live_ and London's own _Summer in the City_. Today, they were heading back to London after spending a few days with some of their friends who lived in this beautiful city. While the two of them walked down the warm sandy shores, something caught their eyes a few feet away into a small embankment behind several small sea rocks where a woman rested on her stomach in the dry sand wrapped in a dried up bed of kelp and appeared to be unconscious on the sand.

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 **Phil's P.O.V:**

"Phil! It's a girl washed up on the shores, we need to help her!" Dan's panicked voice filled my ears as my blue eyes were mainly focused on the girl lying on the sand several feet from us while my stomach instantly dropped.

Without hesitation, the both of us quickly rushed towards her hoping she was still alive even though none of us knew who she is. Once we reached her, I quickly kneeled down to her side as Dan rested his knees next to me while I began searching for a pulse by placing my fingers over her wrist and felt relieved to feel a faint heartbeat.

"She's alive but I don't think it's a good idea to just leave her here. She must have been caught in a shipwrecked and is probably alone. I'll feel bad leaving her here, Dan." I told him implying that we should take her to our flat as I didn't make contact with Dan because I was studying the girl who washed up from the ocean. The summer sun dried up her ocean soaked hair showing her shiny golden brown hues reaching past her shoulders in loose waves and long enough to cover her bare breasts.

' _Get a hold of yourself, Phil…you only met this girl and now you're thinking about her topless body covered in hair and dried seaweed, don't be a pervert…'_

The voice in my head lectured me while my eyes lingered to study her peach colored soft skin as her lips were a shade of coral and I wonder how they will feel against mine.

' _Oh, god…I'm going mental. I shouldn't be thinking about kissing a poor girl I hardly know!'_ I screamed internally to myself as I felt drawn by her natural beauty.

"Hey…are you alright?" I spoke to her softly and gently shook her shoulder in order to wake her up and luckily she began to stir while her eyes began to open up showing the most gorgeous chocolate eyes I've ever seen.

"Miss, are you okay?" I asked her again as she looked at Dan and I before hearing her speak.

"I…I don't know…What happened? Where am I?" Her voice was soft and I noticed that she wasn't from here by her accent, it sounded slightly American.

"You're in Brighton, just an hour away from London, England. Phil and I found you here on the shore alone and we figured you must have been washed ashore considering the state you're in…" Dan let out as her eyes focused and blinked in response before her attention was drawn at her seaweed wrapped body noticing her visible legs.

"I finally made it to the surface…" She spoke out before closing her eyes and passing out suddenly as she must've been exhausted.

"Dan, we're taking her home with us. She doesn't have anywhere to go and we can't leave her like this…"I told him while he didn't disagree with my suggestion and knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Let's take her home…" He let out in response as I began to detangle her from the seaweed.

"Help me with this, Dan." I let out and he began to help me remove the dried up kelp realizing she was completely nude underneath as my heart pounded at the sight while Dan's face became fully red. "Dan hand me your over shirt so I can cover her." He hesitated for a few seconds before removing his white button short sleeve shirt with the moths on it and giving it to me. I used the shirt to carefully dress her in order to cover her chest and then grabbed my beach towel and wrapped it around the rest of her body as I easily lifted her up in my arms.

 **End P.O.V**

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 **So that was the first chapter to this story...I promise the story gets better later on. Feel free to leave feedback but you don't have to :)  
**


	2. Friendly Introductions

**Hi! Finally got around to posting part two. Hope you enjoyed and hope you have a great Thanksgiving break!**

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 **Serena's P.O.V:**

My eyes began to stir once more before opening up to view my surroundings, I noticed I wasn't on the sandy shores anymore but now in a dark lit room and wrapped in warm blankets in someone else's bed. I felt slightly worried being in a stranger's bedroom while the bottom half of my body felt different as I lifted up the blankets where a pair of human legs replaced my tail and fins.

 _'So the stories were true. Mermaids truly can walk amongst humans once their tails are dried…'_ I thought to myself with a small smile formed upon my pink lips while my memory was slowly coming back to me.

After Fritz came to rescue me from Tiburon and the Royal Soldiers sent after me by my father because I escaped from my arranged marriage, the strong currents from the storm proved to be too difficult to pass through and I ended up washed up on the shores where the borders between the surface world and the ocean met. Then I remember being woken up by two human boys with rather strange accents but they were really kind finding me on the beach and assuming I was lost overboard or caught in a ship wreck and washed ashore. Also telling me I was somewhere near a place called London, England which is probably where I am now.

As I looked at myself again, I was wearing what humans called _'clothes'_ , which they used to cover themselves and by the loose fit of the tee shirt and shorts they must belong to one of the nice men who found me.

"At least now, I can be free from the kingdom and make my own choices when it comes to finding love…" I softly told myself and sat up properly in the bed while my eyes were drawn to the interesting objects placed around the bedroom as I started to examine the things that one of the human boys liked to collect.

To begin with, the walls were painted a soft white as the one staring in front of me had three large rectangular paned windows with the blinds pulled down concealing the light from entering the room. The wall along my right held a large wooden piano and a small bench placed underneath the covered keys as well as a large black box wardrobe decorated with odd animal shaped toys stacked on top of it placed along the far right corner.

The wall with the concealed windows had a wooden desk with a fairly large screen television that I recalled is called a computer as I read it in a book held in the library in my kingdom and underneath it was a device called a keyboard and a mouse which is not to be confused with the small rodent. Few other things occupied the space around the desk like a small stack of interesting books placed in one of the windows stills. Lastly, the wall to my left was adorned with a black dresser along with small knick-knacks and a pretty amber colored lamp in the shape of fire coral as its light soften the darkness of the room.

When I looked above the ceiling, there was a white chandelier with a feline shaped mask and small cloud plush attached to it before I stared at both sides of the bed finding two small black drawers with the one on the right decorated with a toy bear with a lamp shade over its head and an odd charcoal sketch of two boys as one of them looked like one of the boys I saw on the beach.

The smell of the room was a mixture of different kinds of scents I've never smelled before but it was sweet and made my mouth water slightly as I was feeling a bit hungry.

Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps were came towards the closed bedroom door along with the voices of two boys as the door opened slowly and soon saw their heads peeking through the door way with friendly grins on their faces once they noticed me looking back at them fully awake.

"Hello there, it's nice to see you're awake…" The one with the sparkling icy blue eyes and black hair spoke out to me first as he greeted me while holding a small white and pink cat shaped cup wearing a bow in his hands and steaming out some sort of hot liquid.

"Yeah, we were worried about you when you passed out on us on the beach. I mean, it's not every day we find a girl washed up on shore." My brown orbs turned to the other boy standing against the door frame with both hands stuffed in the pockets of his black long shorts. He had brown hair that reminded me of the fur of a seal lion and his eyes were a deep rich brown like chocolate, even though I never tried it, I just read about it in a book about human desserts. Also when he smiled, both ends of his cheeks created small indentations which I believe were called _'dimples'_.

"I'm sorry for worrying the both of you earlier, I guess the ocean really put me into exhaustion last night but I'm feeling better now. Thank you for letting me rest here for a while." My lips pulled into another grin as they entered the bedroom and propped themselves on the edge of the bed while the one with amazing blue pools of eyes spoke to me again.

"You're welcome, we couldn't just leave you there on the shore, I supposed this is the best we can do. Here, this is for you, it's a warm cup of tea." He extended out his arms holding the cat cup in his hands for me to take as I carefully gasped hold of the mug and feeling the warmth of his skin touching against mine.

"Thank you." I softly answered back and bringing the cup to my mouth to take a small sip from the rim as I felt the hot liquid soothing dry my throat.

"It must have been a terrible night you went through…We wouldn't mind having you stay with us considering the fact you don't have anywhere to go and by the sound of your accent, you're probably from America and that's on the other side of the pond." The brown haired human let out as there was nowhere I can go. The sea was completely out of the question plus the fact I couldn't tell them the truth that I was a mermaid…more importantly a mermaid princess.

They would think I was insane if they knew what I am. Humans never believed that we exist and the ones that do try are disillusioned by some of us who can disguise themselves as sea creatures and prevent humans from knowing the truth. If any humans stumbled about our existence or our kingdom, it could cause serious problems. Despite all of that, these boys seemed really nice and kind even if I had to pretend I was an American stranded in a place called London after being lost at sea.

"Thank you, but I don't know if it's a good idea to stay with the two of you. We've only just met and I don't want to impose…" I began to decline the offer to live with them as I didn't want to sound too eager at the chance. I knew I needed a place to stay and they did go through all of this trouble bringing me here to their home but I wanted to be sure.

"None sense, we're not going to let you live on the streets like some kind of peasant." The brown haired boy disagreed with me as he cracked a wide smirk before hearing the blue-eyed agreeing with him.

"Dan's right, we want you to stay. It's the least we can do and know you're safe here with us than out on the streets of London…" He looked at me with those gorgeous ocean colored irises as he spoke out the name of the other boy and smiled at me in return. I wanted to stay with them and learn about their world here on the surface from a firsthand experience rather than reading about it in countless of books, this was my chance.

"Well, I guess I can't refuse the offer…I'll stay here, thank you." Their closed mouths had widened brightly as I couldn't help but smile back at them.

"Great, well we haven't introduced ourselves properly, my name is Philip Lester but you can call me Phil." The ebony haired human with the sea colored eyes began to introduce himself to me while pulling out his hand for me to shake. When I placed my hand in his and shook it gently, I felt the warmth from his hand again and I knew I could get used to this human custom.

"It's nice to meet you, Phil." My bright smile met his and later released my grip from him as now I came face to face with the one named Dan.

"Hello, I'm Daniel Howell. You can call me Dan if you like…" He let his hand come into my mine and I shook it just as I did with Phil while feeling the warmth of his skin too.

"It's nice to meet you too, Dan. My name is Serena, it's nice to meet the two handsome men who recused me from the beach and invited me to stay in their home." I beamed at them as I noticed both of their faces turning slightly red at my words before being replaced by charming grins appearing on their faces.

Dan and Phil seemed like real friendly human boys and I think I could enjoy living with them on the surface world.

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 **Thanks for reading! Feel free to subscribe, follow, favorite, review or message me. :)  
**


	3. Mermaid Shower

**Yay! I finally got around to uploading a new chapter.  
**

 **Enjoy!**

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As the three of us were done introducing each other, I began to hear Phil's voice speaking to me again with a smile on his face.

"Well, now since we all introduced each other, Serena if you want you could use our shower downstairs to freshen up and we can give you some clothes to wear for now. They're not feminine but Dan and I can call up some of our female friends to help us tomorrow." Phil suggested to me as I felt a small pang of panic washing over me at the mentioning of the word _'shower.'_

Being a mermaid also has some disadvantages as water can be one of our powerful strengths and also our weakness. Those who dare to leave the ocean and walk among humans can immediately revert back to a merfolk once they come into contact with water and it could only be disastrous if they change in front of humans. Yet, on the other fin, I'll be by myself in the bathroom while taking this shower giving me enough time to fully dry out my tail and become human again without giving away my secret.

"That's okay. I'll be happy to take the offer, thanks." I let out with a gentle smile as the two of them exchanged warm grins in response before I heard Phil speaking again.

"You're welcome. Well, Dan and I will gather some clothes for you to change into when you're done using the shower. I'll be right back." He gave out another friendly smirk before excusing himself to leave the room while Dan pushed himself off the bed and walked to the opposite side of the bedroom towards the black dresser where he opened the first drawer and started rummaging through its contents. I began to realize that this was his room.

"Oh, I didn't know this was your bedroom. I like it, it's very nice…" I softly told him while pulling my legs up to my chest as he turned to face me from over his shoulder looking at me with a grin while I caught the sight of his dimples showing once again while something inside made my heart rise.

"Thank you, I really like it too but then again I have to because it's my room. Phil's room is a lot more colorful though while I'm more monochromatic." He chuckled lightly while creating a small pile of his clothes from the first drawer before he closed it and opened the second one pulling out two garments before shutting it soon after.

"It's not a bad thing though." My lips formed a soft grin as Dan gladly returned it with a warm hearted one before answering me.

"No, it's not. Here are a few of clothes of mine, Serena. I apologize that they might be a little big on you but this is only temporary. Also, I'm sure my girlfriend won't mind that I'm giving you a pair of one of her female belongings since when Phil and I found you this morning on the shore…you were…well, here." He began stumbling out his words as the color red slightly formed around his cheeks as Dan handed me the small stack of his clothes and within the pile was something called _'intimates'_ for women to wear to cover certain parts of their body. This wasn't a new thing for my kind as most of us used threaded kelp decorated with starfish, scallop shells, and pearls to fashion our upper bodies and usually our long hair would do the job too. I just hope his girlfriend wouldn't mind that I'm borrowing her belongings for just today and I wonder if she's nice as him. When I went to grab the stack of clothes, my fingers gently brushed against his hands as the feeling of small Butterfly fish swam inside my stomach for no reason.

"Thank you, Dan. I'm sure they'll fit me fine." His dimples exposed themselves to me again as his mouth formed a grin to meet my smile while Phil soon walked back into the bedroom with a pile of bright colorful clothes resting in his hands.

"Here you are a few clothes you could pick from, Serena. Sorry, if they're a little big but they'll have to do until tomorrow." He let out to me with a warm smirk and his bright ocean orbs staring at me as he walked into the room. Easily I pulled out my arms and Phil placed his stack in my hands feeling a sudden jolt of electricity as if I was stung by a moon Jellyfish after his hands also touched mine by accident.

For some unexplainable reason, these two human boys who I barely met continue to give me strange feelings. They were handsome, there was no denying that and maybe it was because of that but I wondered if these sudden sensations were side effects from being on land for the first time or something more.

"Thanks, Phil." I smiled at him to which he gladly returned it with a bright grin as he spoke again.

"You're welcome. Let's us show you to where the bathroom is so you can use the shower, Serena." I gave him a small nod and Dan stood up from the bed waiting for me to join them as I pushed the bed sheets away from me and planted my feet flat on the soft grey carpet before fully standing up with the piles of clothes held in my hands.

Dan and Phil led me out of the bedroom and into the hallway where at the other end of it were two staircases, one leading up to another floor and the other descending a floor. Without speaking any words, I followed them down the stairs while my legs felt a little weak but I was able to not lose my balance, I haven't been used to my humans legs yet as the only times I've been close to the surface world was poking my head above water until now. After reaching the bottom of the staircase, there was a plain white door several feet away from me which I assumed is the shower.

"This door is the main bathroom which has the sink and shower which is also a tub in case you feel like taking a bath and feel free to use our shampoo and soap which are right in the shower. The clean towels are right over there when you're done." Dan spoke out as they opened the door for me, noticing their clean bathroom. "The other door is the toilet, just so you know where it is when you need to go and such." I laughed lightly as Dan finished explaining and I began to speak.

"Thanks again for everything." I couldn't resist thanking them both once again, I was really thankful for them and I promised I was going to do whatever I can to return the favor.

"You're welcome, Serena. We're just glad to help you out. Well, we will leave you alone now, when you're done, Phil and I will be waiting upstairs." Dan let out with a smirk before the both of them soon left the bathroom, closing the door behind me with their voices fading as they climbed back up the stairs.

As I pushed myself towards the sink, I placed the clothes on the smooth counter before walking back to the door and turned the lock on the knob of the door. Now, I'm sure they wouldn't barge in and all, it was just a conscious move for I couldn't let them see what I really am. After locking the bathroom door, I head straight towards the open shower studying the metal mechanism to bring out the water which seemed fairly simple as I placed my hand over the cold metal handle and pulled it forward listening to a strange noise before water finally rushed out of the shower head. Once I removed the clothes I wore, I stepped into the shower and slid the glass door to close it while feeling the cool water washing away the small remnants of salt and sand from my body. I rested in the tub as my human legs began to form a sparkling light wrapping my lower half transforming back into a violet blue tail and fins becoming a mermaid once more.

My light brown irises scanned at the shower wall finding the plastic bottles with different labels pasted on each one identifying themselves as _'shampoo'_ , _'conditioner'_ , and _'body wash'_. One of the bottles was gray with a red colored cap called _'Old Spice'_ and the other one beside it was a clear bottle filled with a yellowish cream inside called _'Vanilla Shower Gel,'_ which seemed to be a better choice since it probably smelled sweeter compared to the other option.

Soon after spending a good amount of time in the water, I turned off the rushing water and used my upper body strength to pull myself out of the tub after sliding the glass door open and falling onto the cold tile floor as I looked around for the towels placed next to the shower. I shifted on the floor like a seal making my way towards the towels which were now an arm reach away and once I grabbed one I started to wipe away the water from body and rubbed down my tail to dry off completely. After a few minutes, I became human again and carefully picked myself off the floor as I made my way over to the counter where the pile of clothes waited for me.

I decided to go through Dan's sort stack first which mostly consisted of black and found the female intimates within the pile to tried them on which seemed to fit me both well with the underwear hugging my hips from its elastic waist band and the bra covering my chest like a bed of kelp. Then I pulled out a pair of soft black shorts with the front buttoned up which I assume is what men wear under their clothes and easily slid them on as it also had a stretching band reaching slightly below the knees. I began to look through Phil's pile of colorful clothes and chose a purple tee shirt with some sort of large canine animal staring at me with many colorful shapes all over it. The shirt was fairly large after placing it on my body and seeing that it fell a little below the shorts but it was comfortable and really soft and that made me happy.

After I fully finished getting dressed, I picked up the dry end of the towel I had just used and placed it over the shower door before gathering the rest of the garments in my hands as I walked out of the bathroom door and up the stairs to find Dan and Phil.

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 **Thank you so much for reading :) I'll try to upload the next chapter sometime next week  
**

 **Have a great weekend!**


	4. Introduced to Tumblr

**Hi! Yay, new chapter! Sorry for the delay, holidays kept me busy but luckily I had time to work on my stories.**

 **This story is going to become more exciting as it goes on in the future**

 **Enjoy!**

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After my fresh human legs managed to reach the top of the stairs, I noticed in front of me was an open door which I assumed where Dan and Phil are waiting for me and decided to push myself through the unknown room. When I staggered in the room, I found it to be fairly spacious and noticed the pieces of furniture decorated around me such as this large wooden square table with six colorful transparent chairs placed around each side and stationed in front of me. Behind the table were these large and wide rectangular shaped windows that were slightly opened to let in the warm summer air that Merfolk like myself only dreamed about as well as feeling the touch of the sunlight against our skin.

As my eyes traveled further in the room, I found the humans large television set placed besides their warm fireplace as around the television were slim cases stack in a small pile which was probably the round discs they call _'DVDs'_. Along the white mantel of the fire place were several strange oddities neatly placed on top as I needed a closer look to truly see what the small objects were and by the far wall next to it was a tall white bookcase filled with hundredths of films and television series encased in their boxes with many knick-knacks on each shelf. At the center of the room stood a small sized coffee table with a soft rug placed underneath as it looked like the material belonged to a Polar bear but it had to be fake fur because these nice boys from London couldn't purchase anything that was once a living beautiful creature. Once I looked upon the last wall, there was where I found Dan and Phil sitting comfortably against their grayish black couch that was pushed against the wall as their eyes were purely focused at the luminous screens of their portable computer devices which I believe were known as _'laptops'_ and both oblivious of my presence.

In the couple minutes that I stood behind the open door, I continued to debate myself whether I should disrupt them from their leisurely time on their laptops in order to get their attention or just stay where I am feeling foolish. My thoughts didn't venture far enough as I felt someone staring at me in the short distance and caught the sight of Dan's warm brown eyes veering his attention away from his computer device looking at me while a soft grin soon appeared on his lips along with those handsome dimples. He quickly used his elbow and jabbed Phil in the ribs alarming him in surprise as he jumped in his seat and turned to face Dan as his lovely blue eyes caught sight of me standing at the door.

"Wow, I must say you look really nice in our clothes, Serena." Dan was the first to speak out complimenting me nicely as the two of them saw me dressed up in the clothes they had given me to wear temporarily. I easily returned the favor with a small smile before I began to speak to them.

"Thank you for giving me something to wear. Oh, I didn't really know where to place the rest of your clothes that the both of you lend me, so I left the small pile stacked in the bathroom. I'm sorry if that wasn't okay…" I felt slightly ashamed when I told them because I was clueless to what I should have done with their remaining clothes as Phil instantly removed his laptop from his lap and placed it on the coffee table before standing up and made his way towards me.

"No, it's alright, Serena. I'll take care of it right now. Just make yourself comfortable and relax." He let out to me with a bright grin spread along his lips and the knotted feeling sparked once again in my stomach before it started to calm down a little bit once he left the room and climbed downstairs.

I listened to Phil's words and decided to sit down next to Dan while catching him studying me from the corner of my eye as once I sat down I turned to face his charming face.

"Hi." He greeted me with a smirk on his closed mouth to which I gladly returned one back to him in a friendly manner with my brown orbs staring into his own.

"Hello." I answered him and in response all he did was widen his smile into a white grin as those dimples revealed themselves to me once more and easily my heart gave out a sudden jolt within my chest as it pulsed louder as I wondered if these strange occurrences could be prevented in the future. I forced my eyes away from him and turned to the bright screen of his laptop in ordered to calm the nerves away as I saw several images displayed on the screen.

"What are you doing?" I softly let out in an attempt to distract myself as Dan glanced back to his computer and gave out an answer.

"Oh, I'm on Tumblr, looking through countless of images that relate to my personality which there seem to be a good amount of but most of the things I've come across have been quite disturbing yet slightly interesting in a way. Do you have a Tumblr?" Dan suddenly asked me with curiosity except I didn't have the slightest idea as to what _'Tumblr'_ is and had to tell him the truth once I shook my head.

"No, I honestly don't know what it is, sorry, Dan…" I quickly apologized to him feeling completely embarrassed at the known fact that Merfolk didn't have the advancement in understanding the concept of modern human activities as our extensive library about humans could only go so far.

"No, it's okay. Not a lot of people actually do know about it or have an account and it's probably a good thing they don't. Tumblr is a website where you can search through images you're interested in such as movies or food and you can reblog to share it among your followers and also choose to post images for others to do the same." When he began to explain to me about this _'website'_ , I was still confused with everything he was trying to make sense of for me to understand as I let my eyes stare at the pictures on the screen with Dan moving the page down and noticing that some images actually moved in place almost like magic until realizing that there moving on screen was Dan with Phil staring back at me.

"That's you and Phil…" I pointed out to him with a surprising smile as he shyly shared one too before answering back.

"Yeah, you'll find that there are many pictures of us posted by the fans that also use Tumblr." As Dan explained to me, the sound of his voice sounded different than before almost as if he was nervous about something and I couldn't understand what he meant about _'fans'_. He couldn't be referring to those machines that humans use to cool themselves off on a hot summer day because that wouldn't make any sense and before I could continue to ponder at the thought, Phil returned to join us as he plopped himself next to me on the couch placing his laptop back on his lap.

"I already took care of the clothes for you, Serena." He soon let out to me happily as I looked at him with a warm smile.

"Thanks Phil. Dan was kindly explaining this website called Tumblr to me just now." I told him in amazement as he soon answered me afterwards.

"That website can be terrifying at times and no matter how hard I have tried, I can't stay away from it." Phil spoke out and I didn't know what he meant to how it can be _terrifying_ as my eyes stared at the variety of pictures on Dan's computer seeing that most of the photos mostly consisted of Dan and Phil in normal settings until suddenly Dan came across one that looked completely out of the ordinary and it scared me deeply.

"What is it?" My voice let out in shock as I placed my hand over my mouth and both of their attentions were turned to the disturbing picture of them that was indescribable.

"Oh no, that's horrible!" Phil's facial expression was filled with disgust while Dan cringed at the sight of the weird image.

"Serena, this is a perfect example to what I meant about this website. I think that's enough of Tumblr for today." He spoke out to me and quickly closed the window of the website as it disappeared and thankfully I was glad to not see that image again. From the short time I viewed the site though, there seemed to be a lot of people who really admired these two normal human boys from the amount of images I had come across. It made me wonder that they could be famous above the surface and even if they were, it wasn't a priority with me and I didn't really care. To me, they are just really nice humans who care enough to take in a washed up mermaid who escaped from marriage even if they have yet to know about it. Still, the more I feel comfortable around them, the more free I felt disguised as a human.

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 **Thank you for reading! Also thanks to those who had added my story to their Follows :) I really appreciate it!**

 **I do in fact have a Tumblr, though I'm not spending too much time on it as I used too. If you want to add me just look for 'girlinlovewithaseahorse'**

 **Have a great week! :D**


	5. Flashbacks and Pizza

**Hi, everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter and sorry for taking so long to update this! Feel free to review, PM me, etc...!**

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Through the looking glass from what these English boys called a ' _flat'_ , the surface world absolutely took my breath away in this London city. Below the building were soft glowing street lamps that reminded me of a small colony of bioluminescent jellyfish as the buildings around this flat were constructed perfectly like a community of coral. I became more anxious to see the rest of this lovely city by the second, it was a whole new world for me. And standing here, taking in my hundredth breath of crisp air made me feel free from the burden of my captive life.

My relationship with my father had been cold and distant over the years and although I still love him, he always brought the kingdom first than his own flesh and blood. The only one I would truly miss is my faithful friend, Fritz. I wouldn't be here without his help, he saved me from a terrible future. I wonder if I'll ever see him again. At least now, I wouldn't have to marry that ignorant merprince Calder, future king of Aegaeon Kingdom deep within the Arctic seas and possible ruler to Thalassa Kingdom. Princesses are not able to rule a kingdom by themselves and must be wed to a neighboring kingdom. My final moments living under the waves suddenly washed back into my mind.

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" _Father, this isn't fair! How could you give my hand away! I don't even know this Prince!" I angrily let out, feeling the blood in my veins boiling inside while the bluish green hue in my eyes, my true eye color before changing to amber once I reached the land, glared at him with frustration._

 _He sat proudly on his throne adorned with goose barnacles and colorful sea anemones. He could sense my anger after making arrangements to give my hand to Prince Calder, a proud merman with a violent nature, to keep the royal bloodline alive and for the sake of noble tradition. And the sudden announcement spread through the kingdom like a tsunami._

" _It isn't about being fair, this is about tradition. You'll learn to know Calder after the ceremony just how it's been done for centuries." He reminded me about Neptune's law of Royal matrimony, hoping to make me understand the veracity of our culture. He needed me to love my suitor just as my mother had done so with him._

" _Father, please. Why couldn't I choose my own husband? Whether he may be Royal or not? Humans above the surface can freely choose a partner they love not by force." My argument continued, comparing the differences between humans and merfolks as it only angered him._

" _Do not compare our kind with those creatures of the surface! Humans have their own traditions they follow and we are different. Serena, you are a princess of this kingdom and must abide by Neptune's Law. Sacrificing your happiness for others is something you will learn to understand. Calder will make a fine husband and ruler for both kingdoms. He will make you a worthy queen." This was his final word and did not dare escalate the argument any further._

" _Yes, father. I understand." Defeated, I kicked my fins in the other direction and left him in solitude._

 _Fuming with raw emotions, I hardly paid attention to where I swam and collided into another, feeling their rough hands holding onto my arms._

" _Princess, what seems to be the rush? A mermaid of royalty must never be in an hurry, once we are wed, you will find no need to swim so…uncivilized." My eyes stared up into the cold grey ones of my future husband, Prince Calder. He believed a mermaid isn't worthy to have her fins feel the currents against her scales. He wanted me to be dependent of him, a kingdom to admire their queen from her throne never settling her fins to touch the sands of the seas._

 _The Prince's hands weren't comforting and there was no tenderness against my skin as he grinned at me trying to charm my heart. Only I felt trapped in the presence of an aggressive Leopard Seal, his disguised form._

" _I'm sorry for bumping into you, Calder. But-" I tried to speak but this ignorant minded merman answered for me._

" _Oh, please don't apologize. It's because of tonight's ceremony, isn't it? You're looking forward to being my wife. I know from the look upon your face." He let out, sending chills along my spine straight down to my fins. I already disliked him, answering for me as if I had no voice._

" _Well, I should probably be going now, Calder. Excuse me." Slowly, I eased myself away from his grip, swimming through the corridor to escape from him and entering my bedroom. The only refuge I had to vent out my feelings._

" _If I marry Calder, I know I'll never be happy. Why couldn't we be like humans? They're able to make individual choices and I'm old enough to make mine. There's nothing in this sea that could change that." I breathed out the hot water from my lips and stared outside my sea glass window. Visible above the indigo waves stood the bright moon reflecting its luminous glow below me._

" _I wonder how life would be above the surface? Living among the humans and living freely without orders." I let out softly, admiring the celestial planet from above as my maidens entered my room for preparation of the wedding._

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The flashback faded from my memory soon afterwards. I found myself gazing at the white moon now greeting me on the surface and placing a smile on my face. It amazes me how both our worlds can share the same moon, sun, and stars despite being from two different worlds. My human brown eyes caught the reflection of Dan and Phil sitting comfortably on the couch as their voices muffled something about 'take-out'. When I turned around to meet the duo, a terrible rumbling sensation erupted inside my stomach imitating a song from a Humpback whale and turning my face a deep shade of red. I quickly clenched my hungry stomach while they both looked at me with surprised looks on their faces.

"I...I'm sorry. I guess my stomach has a mind of its own." I tried to cover up my embarrassment, but I only turned a brighter shade of red. Truth is I haven't eaten anything since yesterday and I don't suppose humans had fresh seaweed lying around in their cupboards. Merfolks only feed on seagrass and kelp, it's our primary diet.

"It's okay, Phil and I know the feeling of being hungry hippos. We were thinking about ordering pizza." Dan let out with a smile, making me feel slightly better knowing my empty stomach wasn't an issue.

"Yeah. Besides, Dan's stomach growls louder than yours, Serena. It sounds like Godzilla attacking Tokyo." Phil pointed out happily while Dan shook his head, glaring at Phil with discontent.

"Phil!" His voice screeched out as I laughed lightly. "Anyways, what kind of pizza do you like, Serena?" Dan's voice sounded normal again, drawing his attention towards me.

"Um..well...I'm not so sure. I never had pizza before." As I told him the truth, they were both taken aback by my response. If only they knew that my kind never ate pizza or any sort of human food for that matter.

"What the fuck!?" Dan cursed out, lost for words as I felt like I did something wrong.

"You never had pizza?" Phil questioned me in disbelief and I slowly shook my head.

"Never…" I mumbled out of embarrassment.

"What kind of life do you live in?" Dan asked me, amazed to hear that a human never had pizza before but the only thing is that I'm not really a human.

"A very complicated one…" I whispered under my breath as they were unable to hear my words.

"Well, that's going to change because you're going to have pizza for the very first time! Choose any kind of pizza you'll like, Serena." Phil gave me the paper pamphlet which I gladly accepted and felt excited to eat this strange source of food for the first time.

"Thank you, Phil." I smiled at him, taking a seat on the couch between them. My eyes looked at the menu, I was fascinated by the colorful variety of pizza pies.

From the knowledge I'd gathered from books based on the lives of humans within the kingdom's Royal library, they harvested other animals for consumption, even within our oceans. Merfolks never understood their lifestyles, we believed all creatures are treated equally and only feed off of seaweed and sea grass.

Scanning through the menu, I found the small selection called ' _Vegetarian Lovers'_ and decided on a tomato and basil cheese pizza.

"Alright, I think I made my decision." I spoke out, showing them my choice as they looked a little surprised.

"I didn't know you were a vegetarian, Serena." Dan voiced his curiosity as I answered.

"I guess so, I mean all of my life I ate nothing but kel...uh-greens. My family and I consider animals as our friends, we could never eat them." I quickly corrected my mistake and luckily none of them didn't catch my mishap.

' _If I'm going to be a human, then I'll have to start acting like one…'_

"I guess we'll have to include more healthy greens in our house then." Phil let out with a small smirk on his face before pulling out this small flat device from his jean pocket. As I watched him fiddle with the strange artifact, I realized it was a phone that function without cords or buttons. Human technology never ceased to amaze me.

"It's not a bad thing. Actually, I think it's great, maybe I should try it sometime." Dan commented, showing his dimples exposed in front of me. I widened my grin in response while imagining him devouring fresh seaweed in my head, but I don't think that's what he meant.

"Okay, I placed our order and it should be a while before it arrives. How about we watch a movie while we wait for the pizza to arrive?" Phil suggested after ordering the pizza through a few movements using his fingers and never having to call for delivery. It made me realized that the books I've read in the library were outdated and so much has happened in the surface world. Still, I was curious to see what other technology I might encounter in this world and looked forward to seeing a movie for the very first time. "Since you're our guest, why don't you pick a film, Serena." Phil motioned his hand over to the large white bookcase occupying hundreds of slim and some wide cases containing movies neatly stacked on each shelf. As I walked up to the bookcase, studying each film I slightly became overwhelmed by the amount of movies they owned. Eventually, I picked a random case from the second shelf and brought it to Phil as Dan's small phone started to play music and the screen lit up showing an image of a girl. He excused himself and walked towards his room.

"How about this one?" I asked the tall boy whose blue eyes reminded me of the sea. Phil responded with a wide vibrant grin seeing the movie case in my hands.

"Awesome! Ghibli films are my favorite!" He let out excitedly, I glanced at the title on the colorful box named _Ponyo_. From the images painted on the box, there was a little girl surfacing from the ocean and it intrigued me. Dan entered the room again, his expression seemed slightly puzzling but he disguised it with a small smirk and noticed the movie in my hands.

"Oh, are we watching Ponyo? That's a great film. Here, I'll pop the disc into the Blu-Ray player for us to watch." I gave the box case to Dan as he made his way towards the television set. Underneath it was this slim black box and it opened a small compartment after Dan pressed a button on the strange device. Once he opened the case and pulled out a round disc, he placed it on the tray and soon the machine swallowed it whole emitting a bright blue light.

As the movie started to play on the screen, I was captivated by the wonderful imagery humans pictured the ocean and loved the sweet tale of the character, Ponyo, a sea princess who left her home to see the surface world and befriends a human boy. This movie almost mirrored my situation, a mermaid princess who left her home because she didn't want to be forced into a marriage with a prince and wanting to live a life of her own. She found herself on the surface world, meeting two human boys named Dan and Phil. Now here I am in their home of London, England, sitting on their couch and enjoying human activities. It felt nice.

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Towards the middle of the film, a strange noise echoed throughout the room startling me in my seat as I clung to Phil's arm, causing him to jump as well.

"What was that?" I felt my heart pounding against my chest, frightened by the loud noise.

"That's the doorbell, sorry if it scared you. Our doorbell isn't like a normal one. Are you okay?" Phil let out, he looked at me with concern as I felt silly getting scared over a doorbell.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Oh, sorry..." Realizing I still held on to his arm, I slowly removed myself from him.

"Don't be, it's okay. I'll go answer the door." Phil stood up from his seat and began walking downstairs to reach the front door.

"Sorry, we should have warned you about the doorbell." Dan's voice spoke out, staring at me with those dark brown eyes and I looked at him with a small grin.

"That's alright, I shouldn't have been scared by it." He showed me a smirk. My ears heard the sound of a door closing shut and this sweet aroma entered the air.

"Pizza's here!" Phil announced, placing the three squared boxes on the coffee table as the steaming smell of pizza tickled my nose. Phil gave me my box and my mouth suddenly watered from hunger, both of them stared at me with curiosity awaiting the moment of trying pizza for the first time. I opened the box and revealed the round meal decorated with melted cheese, sliced tomatoes and basil leaves, I grabbed my first slice with my hands feeling the warmth radiating from my fingers and brought it to my mouth taking the first bite. This flavorful explosion of a human creation was delicious as both boys gave me expressions of approval over my sudden reaction of eating pizza. This was possibly better than any seaweed cuisine I ever eaten.

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 **Hope you enjoyed this update. I'll try to post next one soon.**

 **Have a great week!**


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